Chip Tricks to Try at the Blackjack Table

If you want to look like a pro, you need to know how to do a couple of chip tricks that will help you when you're playing Blackjack. Here's a step by step guide to a basic, a medium and an advanced level chip trick for you to try – you don't have to be a dealer or a pro to pull them off, you just need practice.

Thanks to the rise of televised casino tournaments, chip tricks like these have massively grown in popularity. If you feel you still need a little practice before you take to the casino, head on over to the Ladbrokes Blackjack Academy for some free interactive help and advice.

Counting the Stack

How do you do it?This is the basic standard method that every croupier uses to count a stack of chips. If the dealer wants to show that there are 20 chips, they would put down three stacks of five, and slide a fourth set of five for the player to see; if they were counting 15 chips, the dealer would do two stacks of five before sliding down the third for the player to see. This is also the simplest trick that you can do with your chips, so don't sit there counting chips one by one – learn to count the stack like a pro.

Pick up the entire stack in your fingers.

Feel for five chips with your index finger – it may take a little practice to get right first time each time.

Place your fingertips on the table so that the stack is lifted just off the cloth.

Keeping your finger straight against all but the bottom five chips, drop the chips slightly and pull your hand backwards. This will deposit five chips on the table in one stack.

Reposition your fingertips so that the bottom chip is held just off the cloth.

Repeat Steps 4 and 5 until you have just 5 chips in your hand. Repeat Step 4 one last time.

Place your index finger on the furthest corner of the top chip and drag the chips down to that they slide onto the table. You should see three stacks of five chips and a set of five chips spread out slightly.

To collect the chips, slide the chips back up and pick up the stacks one by one.

The Shuffle

How do you do it?The Shuffle (AKA the Chip Shuffle or Chip Riffle) is one of the coolest looking tricks you can do as you decide how you want to play your hand. This can be done with as many chips as you like, as long as it's an even number.

Pick up your chips and split them into two even piles on the table, side by side.

Place your fingers over both piles, pinching them together slightly with your thumb and little finger. Keep your middle finger in front of where the two stacks meet.

Lift the two stacks slightly using your middle finger.

As the chips lift, push the bottom chips towards each other slightly using your little finger and thumb.

As you continue to lift your finger, apply even pressure with both your finger and thumb. The chips should slide together which each chip going up the stack coming from alternating sides.

Once you have a backbone for your single stack of chips, draw your fingers towards one another, pushing the chips into a single, neat pile.

Cut the pile in half, as you would with a deck of cards, and place the bottom half on top of remaining chips.

Repeat Steps 1-7 until you're ready to make a move

Pro tip: this trick is easier to learn on a soft table like you'd find at the casino using two sets of different coloured chips. It's also easier to learn with just two chips, working your way up through four, six and eight or more chips.

The Butterfly

How do you do it?The Butterfly is one of the hardest tricks for a novice to learn because it forces you to use your fingers as if they were thumbs – something which the majority of people have never done in their life. Unsurprising, this will take a lot of practice to get right so don't get dejected if you can't pull it off. Focus on how chipper you'll be once you manage instead, and keep practicing until you get it right.

Pick up a stack of four chips in one hand.

Do a Chip Flip (flip one chip from one end of the stack to the other using your thumb). You should now have the chips held between your thumb and index finger, ideally with the inner two chips hanging slightly out of the bottom.

Grab these chips with your middle finger and pull them out of the stack. Catch and hold them with your ring finger and little finger.

Hold the two stacks apart and pull your middle finger in towards the palm of your hand.

Push your two groups of two chips together until they're almost touching

Gently push your middle finger through the gap, taking the back two chips with it.

You should now have a chip between each of your fingers and thumb.

Roll your middle finger back in to collapse the four chips into a single stack.

Repeat Steps 1-8 until the crowd is suitably impressed.

Pro tip: This is much easier with newer chips which still have a decent corner to them. Old chips have been smoothed by being handled over time, sliding out of your hands much easier.

See if you can spot any of the live dealers practicing chip tricks such as counting the stack, the shuffle or the butterfly throughout our range of games here at Ladbrokes Casino.

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